.  J?. 


(X  <*t£5 


THE 


DEDICATION 


OF 


l?e 


of 


CHICAGO.  APRIL  29.   1885. 


ADDRESS  OF  EMERY  A  STORRS, 


{.  GVKOHOW?    VMN  PRvmi«s.  44  (.  4%  \ASMAt 


IV  Ik  Pnsa*  Memtm  of  tfe  Chicago  Board  tf  Trade: 

BEUTVCTG  it  would  be  interesting  and  valuable  to  the  present 
members,  in  connection  with  the  development  of  the  Board  of  Trade 
and  the  chy  of  Chicago  since  April,  1848,  it  is  my  pleasure  to  furnish 
you  with  a  copy  of  Hon.  Emery  A.  Starrs'  oration  upon  the  dedication 
of  this  building  thirty  years  ago,  April  23,  1885. 

The  first  annual  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  in  1849 — in  April, 
a  month  memorable  tons  as  a  nation  and  to  some  of  us  as  individuals. 
The  first  blood  of  our  Revolutionary  War  was  shed  April  19,  1775; 
the  first  blood  of  die  Mexican  War  was  shed  April  16,  1816.  The 
first  gun  of  our  Civil  War  was  fired  April  iz  and  the  first  blood  shed 
April  19,  1861.  General  Robert  E.  Lee  surrendered  to  General 
Ulysses  S.  Grant  on  April  9,  1865.  The  first  shot  of  our  Spanish 
War  was  fired  April  22,  1898;  and  April  21, 1914,  marked  the  day  of 
the  spiffing  of  the  first  American  blood  in  our  present  Mexican 
"watchful  waiting."  But  possibly  the  saddest  line  in  April's  history 
is  that  iccoiding  die  assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  April  14, 
1865. 

Personally,  April  means  much  to  me.  Fifty-fear  years  ago,  on 
the  2}d  of  April,  1861,  I  enlisted  to  help  save  our  nation  and  the 
honor  of  our  flag  and  was  instrumental  in  organizing  Taylor's 
Chicago  Battery.  We  left  Chicago  June  3d  (which  was  the  day 
Senator  Stephen  A.  Douglas  died),  mmmandrd  by  Captain  Ezra 
Taylor,  who  was  a  menibei  of  the  Board,  (afterwards  General 
W.  T.  Sherman's  Chief  of  Artillery).  Under  the  command  of 
General  U.  S.  Grant,  Generals  Sherman,  McPherson,  and  Logan, 
I  participated  in  many  battles  (among  which  in  April  were  Shiloh 
in  '62  and  Vkksburg  in  '63,  (where  I  was  promoted  to  Captain), 
ending  up  near  Atlanta,  Georgia,  in  the  summer  of  1864. 

Returning  to  Chicago  at  the  expiration  of  the  battery's  enlist- 
ment, I  reentered  the  commission  business,  having  been  a  member 
of  the  Board  since  1859.  I  was  elected  a  director  in  1870,  serving 
through  the  Big  Fire  in  '71,  the  burning  of  the  building  of  die  Board 
at  due  corner  of  Washington  and  T  .a Salic  streets,  and  its  rebuilding. 
Thirty  years  later — in  1900 — I  was  again  elected  a  director,  serving 
three  years,  and  am  now  die  only  member  of  die  Board  who  was  in 
die  commission  business  before  die  Cvfl  War,  and  am  still  active, 
with  a  son  to  follow. 


'-  = 


DEDICATION 


Hew     oapd  of 


:-  :-::   -:=  . 


ADDRESS  OF  EMERY  A  STORRS. 


UfiHux.  Snvn. 


THIS  IS  A  COPY  OF  THE  ORIGINAL 
ADDRESS  OF  EMERY  A.  STORRS, 
PRINTED  IN  1885  IN  CHICAGO. 


REPRINTED,  IQIJ,  BY 

R.  R.  DONNELLEY  &  SONS  CO. 

CHICAGO 


.  $resibent  anb  Gentlemen: 

ORTY  years  ago,  what  is 
now  known  as  the  great 
West  was  farther  removed 
from  the  city  of  New  York 
than  the  remotest  confines 
of  Europe  are  separated 
from  the  great  West  to- 
day. What  is  now  an 
empire  in  power,  popula- 
tion, and  wealth  was  then 
almost  an  unknown  country;  and  nothing  more  dis- 
tinctively illustrates  the  marvelous  increase  in  popu- 
lation, wealth,  and  power  of  the  Northwest  than  the 
growth,  from  its  first  humble  beginnings  up  to  its 
present  greatness,  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade. 
In  1848,  that  Chicago  was  to  be  a  great  city,  and  that, 
seated  at  the  head  of  the  chain  of  lakes,  it  was  to 
command  in  a  large  measure  the  trade  of  the  grain- 
growing  regions — that  it  was  to  be  the  center  where 
should  be  gathered  their  agricultural  products,  and 
from  which  those  products  should  be  distributed 
throughout  the  world — became  manifest  to  those  few 
hopeful  and  sagacious  men  who,  on  the  13th  of  March 
of  that  year,  met  together  for  the  establishment  of  a 
board  of  trade  in  this  city.  The  call  for  the  first 
meeting  was  signed  by  thirteen  firms  and  individuals, 
and  resolutions  were  passed  stating  that  the  growing 
trade  of  Chicago  demanded  the  establishment  of  a 
board  of  trade;  a  constitution  was  adopted,  and  a 

[5  ] 


committee  appointed  to  draw  up  by-laws,  which  were 
submitted  to  an  adjourned  meeting  on  the  first  Mon- 
day in  April  following,  when  they  were  adopted. 

The  beginnings  were  very  small.  The  annual  rent 
of  the  rooms  was  3110.  But,  as  small  as  the  board 
was  in  point  of  numbers,  it  immediately  interested 
itself  in  public  questions. 

The  first  annual  meeting  was  held  in  April,  1849. 
Steps  were  taken  to  secure  telegraphic  reports  of  the 
eastern  markets,  and  the  hour  for  daily  meetings  was 
fixed  at  nine  o'clock.  This  young  association  de- 
voted itself  at  once  to  the  regulation  of  tolls  on  the 
canals,  the  condition  of  the  harbor;  and  the  confi- 
dence which  even  at  that  early  day  was  reposed  in 
it  is  exhibited  by  the  fact  that  the  city  council,  having 
a  short  time  before  made  an  appropriation  of  31,000 
in  bonds,  redeemable  in  five  years  at  ten  per  cent, 
placed  these  bonds  at  the  disposal  of  the  board. 

In  April,  1850,  the  general  law  relating  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  board  of  trade  was  read  at  the  first 
meeting  of  the  board,  and  the  members  organized 
under  the  act  passed  February  8,  1849,  the  title  of 
the  association  being  the  Board  of  Trade  of  the  city 
of  Chicago,  and  the  admission  fee  fixed  at  the  sum  of 
35.  In  1850  a  deficit  in  the  treasurer's  books  was 
found  of  3146,  and  the  annual  dues  were  raised  from 
32  to  33.  The  board  during  this  year  was  active  in 
promoting  the  free  navigation  of  the  River  St.  Law- 
rence. Notwithstanding  the  pressing  invitations  ex- 
tended to  the  members  to  meet  daily,  but  few  of  them 
did  so;  and  the  hour  of  the  meetings  was  changed 
from  twelve,  noon,  to  one  P.  M. 

[6] 


The  third  annual  meeting  was  held  in  April,  1851, 
and  there  were  at  that  time  but  thirty-eight  members 
in  the  association.  The  treasurer's  books  then  showed 
a  deficit  of  3165,  to  meet  which  the  treasurer  recom- 
mended that  each  member  be  assessed  34,  which 
would  very  nearly  free  the  association  from  debt. 
Charles  Walker,  during  this  year,  was  elected  presi- 
dent, and  a  delegation  of  the  board  was  appointed  to 
attend  a  convention  to  be  held  at  Peoria,  to  consider 
the  improvement  of  the  Illinois  River.  A  daily  record 
was  kept  of  the  members  present  at  the  annual  meet- 
ings, and  that  record  presents  the  curious  fact  that 
day  after  day  there  were  no  members  whatever 
present,  and  on  many  occasions  no  one  present  but 
the  faithful  and  able  president,  Charles  Walker. 

In  1852  the  membership  showed  an  increase  of 
fifteen  names  within  the  year. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  trace  through  these  intervening 
years  the  history  of  this  board.  It  is  enough  to  say 
that  up  to  1858  its  growth  was  exceedingly  slow,  but 
that  in  the  meantime  it  had  interested  itself  in  all 
questions  of  a  general  character  affecting  the  interests 
of  the  city  and  the  Northwest.  In  1855,  at  the 
seventh  annual  meeting,  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
a  better  attendance  of  the  members,  refreshments 
were  furnished  to  them,  of  crackers,  cheese  and  ale, 
and  a  reading-room  projected.  In  1856  the  annual 
meeting  was  held  in  the  ladies'  ordinary  at  the  Tre- 
mont  House.  The  year  1858  was  a  notable  one  in  its 
history.  Our  honored  citizen,  Julian  S.  Rumsey,  was 
its  president  and  inaugurated  the  present  system  of 
grain  inspection,  which  has  been  substantially  adopted 

[7] 


throughout  the  country,  and  has  become  an  authority 
throughout  the  world.  During  that  year  the  first 
annual  report  was  made.  In  1859  the  board  felt 
itself  sufficiently  strong  to  occupy  more  enlarged 
rooms,  and  to  involve  themselves  in  liabilities  for  the 
payment  of  an  annual  rental  of  31,200,  which  by 
many  of  its  conservative  members  was  deemed  to  be 
very  extravagant. 

From  1859  down  to  1861  the  growth  of  the  board 
was  exceedingly  rapid.  In  1860  the  list  of  member- 
ship comprised  625  names.  In  1859  a  new  charter 
was  obtained  from  the  legislature,  conferring  upon 
the  association  privileges  commensurate  with  the  in- 
creasing growth  of  the  commerce  of  the  city,  and  this, 
together  with  new  sets  of  rules  and  regulations,  was 
formally  presented  and  adopted.  In  1861  the  list 
of  membership  had  increased  to  725,  and  the  board 
had  a  substantial  surplus.  In  1863  it  commenced 
the  erection  of  its  new  building  on  the  southeast 
corner  of  LaSalle  and  Washington  streets,  which  was 
finished  and  occupied  by  it  in  1865.  This  building 
the  board  continued  to  occupy  until  its  destruction  by 
fire  on  the  9th  of  October,  1871.  It  was  rebuilt  within 
a  year,  and  the  new  building  has  been  occupied  by 
them  since  that  time  up  to  to-day.  The  list  of  member- 
ship has  increased  to  nearly  2,000.  The  transactions 
of  the  board  attract  the  attention  of  the  commercial 
world.  The  history  of  this  magnificent  temple,  dedi- 
cated to  an  honorable  commerce,  has  already  been 
told  you;  and  it  is  for  the  formal  dedication  of  this 
splendid  structure  to  so  great  a  purpose  that  we  are 
to-day  assembled. 

[8] 


The  Board  of  Trade  of  the  city  of  Chicago  is  worthy 
of  such  a  home.  Considering  the  magnitude  of  the 
interests  which  it  controls  and  represents,  and  the 
fidelity  with  which,  from  its  birth  down  to  to-day, 
the  great  trusts  reposed  in  it  by  the  people  have  been 
discharged,  it  needs  not  to  vaunt  itself,  but  the  truth- 
ful story  of  what  it  has  done  is  all  the  eulogy  which 
it  requires. 

This  much,  and  very  hurriedly,  by  way  of  history. 
But  the  figures  showing  the  increase  of  its  business 
until  its  transactions  have  reached  their  present  co- 
lossal proportions  are  more  eloquent  than  any  mere 
language  of  description  can  possibly  be. 

When  the  board  was  organized  in  1848,  the  entire 
shipments  of  flour  from  this  city  were  45,200  barrels, 
but  in  1884  those  shipments  had  reached  4,808,884 
barrels.  In  1848  there  were  shipped  from  Chicago 
2,160,000  bushels  of  wheat,  but  in  1884  those  ship- 
ments reached  the  enormous  aggregate  of  21,046,577. 
The  growth  of  the  Northwest  is  well  exhibited  in 
these  speaking  and  eloquent  statistics.  In  1848  the 
shipments  of  corn  from  Chicago  were  550,460  bushels; 
but  in  1884  they  amounted  to  53,274,050  bushels. 
Within  the  same  period  of  time  the  shipment  of  oats 
has  increased  from  65,280  bushels  to  34,230,293 
bushels. 

Prior  to  the  year  1853  we  possess  no  records  ex- 
hibiting the  trading  in  pork,  lard,  butter  or  wool. 
But  the  increase  in  the  actual  transactions  in  these 
products  is  something  marvelous.  In  1853  the  ship- 
ments of  pork  amounted  to  9,266,318,  and  in  1884  to 
549,674,034  pounds.  Of  lard,  in  1853  the  shipments 

[9] 


were  1,847,552  pounds,  which  had  increased  in  1883 
to  219,617,436.  In  1854  the  shipments  of  butter 
amounted  to  577,388,  and  in  1884  to  90,660,374 
pounds.  The  shipments  of  wool  in  1853  amounted  to 
953,100  pounds,  and  in  1884  to  53,334,926.  The 
receipts  of  live  stock  and  the  packing  business  since 
1864  and  1865  show  an  increase  equally  great.  In 
1864  we  received  338,840  head  of  cattle,  and  twenty 
years  later,  in  1884,  the  receipts  had  increased  to 
1,817,697.  Of  live  hogs  there  were  received  in  1865, 
757,072,  and  in  1884  we  received  5,351,967.  In  1864 
there  were  packed  70,086  cattle,  and  1,182,905  in 
1884.  In  the  year  1865  there  were  packed  760,514 
hogs,  and  in  1884  the  aggregate  reached  3,911,792. 
The  capacity  of  our  grain  elevators  is  26,175,000 
bushels. 

The  actual  values  thus  represented  in  dollars  and 
cents  may  safely  be  stated  to  amount  to  the  enor- 
mous sum  of  3600,000,000  per  year.  In  part,  these 
products  furnish  the  foundations  upon  which  the 
transactions  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of  the  city  of 
Chicago  are  based.  They  are  real,  if  anything  is  real, 
and  are  the  most  substantial  and  positive  actualities. 
These  figures  demonstrate  that  the  Board  of  Trade 
of  the  city  of  Chicago  does  not  deal  in  fictions,  for  if 
there  should  be  removed  from  the  world's  supplies  for 
one  year  these  vast  quantities  of  grain  and  provisions, 
want  and  hunger  and  famine,  most  positive  and  real, 
would  follow,  which  would  be  no  fictions,  but  realities 
of  the  most  deplorable  and  calamitous  character.  Nor 
are  the  men  who  engage  in  the  handling  of  these 
products  gamblers.  As  colossal  as  the  values  I  have 

[10] 


named  are,  they  represent  but  a  small  fraction  of  the 
entire  volume  of  the  transactions  on  this  board.  A 
thousand  bushels  of  grain  may  change  hands  twenty 
times  every  day,  but  fortifying  each  transaction  is  the 
warehouse  receipt;  and  a  fictitious  transaction,  or  one 
which  bears  the  slightest  resemblance  to  a  gambling 
one,  is  within  the  rules  of  the  board  an  utter  impossi- 
bility. I  am  not  speaking  of  these  facts,  so  greatly  to 
the  credit  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of  the  city  of  Chicago, 
as  distinguishing  it  from  other  associations  of  like 
character  throughout  the  country.  What  I  have  said 
of  this  board  is  doubtless  true  in  the  main  of  all  other 
associations  of  a  kindred  character.  That  there  are 
speculative  operations  in  grain  and  provisions  no  one 
will  undertake  to  deny,  but  so  long  as  the  nature  of 
man  remains  what  it  is,  and  what  it  always  has  been, 
enterprises  more  or  less  speculative  will  characterize 
the  commerce  and  trade  of  the  world.  It  occurred 
many  years  ago  to  Lord  Kenyon,  who  was  a  great 
man  within  a  certain  judicial  range,  that  he  could 
regulate  by  judicial  decision  the  currents  of  trade. 
He  conceived  that  buying  grain  and  breadstuffs,  and 
holding  them  for  a  rise  for  speculative  purposes,  was 
against  public  policy  and  immoral;  and  he  therefore, 
as  chief  justice  of  the  king's  bench,  adjudged  all  such 
transactions  void.  But  the  king's  bench,  with  all 
its  judicial  terrors,  might  as  well  have  undertaken  to 
change  the  course  of  the  seasons  as  to  have  checked 
enterprises  of  a  speculative  character  in  breadstuffs; 
and  such  a  clamor  was  raised  about  the  ears  of  Lord 
Chief  Justice  Kenyon  that  it  was  not  long  before  his 
decisions  were  relegated  to  the  limbo  of  overruled 

[in 


cases,  and  are  quoted  to-day,  not  as  authority,  but  as 
demonstrating  how  far  and  how  absurdly  wrong  even 
a  great  judge  may  possibly  go. 

While  no  rules  can  check,  and  it  would  be  unwise  to 
undertake  to  check  speculative  operations,  yet  the 
declared  objects  of  the  board  are  utterly  hostile  to 
fictitious  and  gambling  transactions,  and  to  corners. 
The  preamble  of  its  rules  and  by-laws  expresses  the 
general  objects  of  the  board  in  this  language: 

"To  maintain  a  commercial  exchange;  to  promote 
"uniformity  in  the  customs  and  usages  of  merchants; 
"to  inculcate  principles  of  justice  and  equity  in  trade; 
"to  facilitate  the  speedy  adjustment  of  business  dis- 
"putes;  to  acquire  and  disseminate  valuable  com- 
"mercial  or  economic  information;  and  generally  to 
"secure  to  its  members  the  benefits  of  co-operation  in 
"the  furtherance  of  their  legitimate  pursuits." 

The  rules  and  by-laws  of  the  board  are  hostile  to  all 
such  enterprises,  and  to  the  creation  and  manipulation 
of  corners;  and  its  authoritative  action  on  notable 
occasions  has  been  in  entire  harmony  with  the  general 
purposes  as  expressed  in  its  preamble,  and  in  further- 
ance of  its  rules  and  by-laws.  In  the  year  1874, 
desperate  efforts  were  made  to  control  the  corn  market, 
which  led  to  serious  losses  to  the  trade,  and  to  extended 
litigation.  The  transactions  involved  the  dignity  and 
the  fair  fame  and  character  of  the  board.  Charges 
were  preferred  against  members  of  the  board  for  viola- 
tion of  its  rules,  reciting  that  "the  objects  of  the 
"  association,  as  set  forth  in  the  preamble  to  its  general 
"rules,  are  in  danger  of  subversion  by  the  toleration 
"among  its  members  of  acts  contrary  to  the  principles 

[  12  ] 


"which  should  govern  all  commercial  transactions." 
An  investigation  of  the  efforts  made  to  control  the 
corn  market,  and  of  those  engaged  in  these  efforts,  was 
demanded.  The  parties  were  brought  to  trial,  result- 
ing in  the  expulsion  of  several  of  the  accused  by  a  large 
and  decisive  vote,  furnishing  thereby  the  completest 
evidence  of  the  determination  of  the  board  to  exercise 
its  discretionary  powers  to  the  end  that  the  highest 
possible  standard  of  commercial  integrity  might  be 
maintained. 

No  association  of  individuals  has  ever  adapted  itself 
to  new  and  indeed  to  novel  situations  more  rapidly 
or  more  intelligently  than  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade. 
It  has  shown  itself  equal  to  every  emergency,  and  has 
developed  a  positive  genius  for  legislation.  Under 
the  old-time  methods  of  transporting  grain  in  bags, 
and  its  delivery  at  the  various  railroad  depots,  or  by 
canal  or  water-ways,  a  general  system  of  inspection 
was  well-nigh  impracticable,  and  was  perhaps  un- 
necessary. But  the  tremendous  growth  of  produc- 
tion made  a  change  in  the  method  of  handling  grain 
indispensable,  and  to  this  point,  years  since,  the  trans- 
portation of  grain  in  bulk  superseded  the  old  method, 
and  this  change  in  the  method  of  transportation 
necessitated  a  change  in  the  method  of  handling  and 
storing;  and  out  of  this  grew  our  vast  elevator  system. 
It  became  impossible,  therefore,  to  keep  each  shipper's 
grain  by  itself,  and  there  grew  up  at  once  a  necessity 
for  fair  and  equitable  inspection, — such  a  system  as 
would  save  the  producer  and  shipper  harmless,  and 
secure  him  absolutely  against  any  deceits  which  might 
be  attempted  upon  him  by  the  warehouseman.  I 

[  13  ] 


have  already  had  occasion  to  refer  to  this  system  of 
inspection;  and  the  system  itself,  supplemented  as 
it  now  is  by  state  legislation,  is  one  so  admirably 
adapted  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  designed  as 
to  reflect  the  highest  credit  upon  its  author,  and  upon 
this  board.  This  system  of  inspection,  and  the  issu- 
ance of  warehouse  receipts,  practically  revolutionized 
the  character  of  transactions  on  'Change,  and  made 
possible  those  colossal  operations  which  have  carried 
the  fame  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade  all  around  the 
globe.  Behind  every  transaction  on  'Change  stands 
the  warehouse  receipt;  and  this  warehouse  receipt  is 
as  conclusive  and  unchallengeable  evidence  as  to  quan- 
tity and  quality  as  the  mint  stamp  of  the  government 
upon  its  coin;  or  the  silver  certificate  that  the  exact 
amount  of  silver  is  behind  it  which  it  claims  to  rep- 
resent. 

One  of  the  declared  objects  of  the  board,  as  we  have 
seen,  is  to  facilitate  the  speedy  adjustment  of  business 
disputes;  and  its  rules,  referring  controversies  between 
its  members  to  the  board  itself  for  determination,  and 
substituting  arbitration  in  the  solution  of  business 
differences  for  the  slow  and  tedious  processes  of 
litigation  in  the  courts,  have  operated  most  satis- 
factorily, and  resulted  not  only  in  the  saving  of  expense, 
but  in  the  encouragement  of  a  much  better  state  of 
feeling  between  members  of  the  board,  and  the  settle- 
ment of  questions  between  those  members,  much  more 
speedily  than  could  have  been  achieved  by  the  ordi- 
nary proceedings  in  courts  of  justice. 

It  is  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  board  that  failures 
which  from  time  to  time  occur,  accompanied  with  a 

[  W] 


fair  and  honest  showing,  are  speedily  settled;  and  it 
is  claimed  that  there  has  been  in  all  its  history  no 
instance  of  a  fair  and  honest  failure  where  the  unfortu- 
nate member  has  appealed  in  vain  to  the  good  sense 
and  fairness  of  his  brother  members  for  an  arrange- 
ment of  his  difficulties.  Compared  with  the  action  of 
the  courts,  settlements  of  great  claims  which  have 
been  made  by  the  board  itself  illustrate  its  business 
fairness  and  sagacity.  Within  a  few  years  a  failure 
occurred  involving  millions,  which  would  have  re- 
quired years  for  adjustment  had  it  been  submitted  to 
the  ordinary  forms  of  judicial  proceeding,  and  involved 
thousands  of  dollars  of  expense;  but  within  a  period  of 
thirty  days  a  complete  settlement  had  been  reached, 
practically  without  expense,  and  substantially  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  all  the  parties  concerned.  It 
would  be  utterly  impossible  that,  in  the  ordinary 
prosecution  of  its  business,  the  vast  contracts  that  are 
made  upon  'Change  should  be  submitted  to  writing; 
and  so  it  has  come  to  pass  that  so  high  a  level  of  per- 
sonal honor  has  been  reached  that  but  a  motion  of  the 
finger,  a  nod  of  the  head,  or  a  word,  is  all  that  is  re- 
quired in  a  transaction  involving  possibly  millions  of 
dollars,  and  the  instances  of  a  violation  of  contracts 
thus  entered  into  are  so  rare  and  exceptional  that  it 
would  be  difficult  to  recall  even  one  of  them. 

Whether  entirely  conscious  of  the  fact  or  not,  the 
members  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of  the  city  of  Chicago 
represent  not  merely  themselves,  and  act  not  merely 
for  themselves,  but  stand  between  the  producer  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  consumer  throughout  the  civi- 
lized world  on  the  other.  There  is  no  great  business 

t  15  ] 


interest  in  this  city  in  which,  either  directly  or  in- 
directly, it  is  not  interested.  Its  members  are  found 
at  the  head  of,  or  are  intimately  connected  with,  our 
great  banking  institutions;  and  the  safety  and  solidity 
of  our  banks  are  universally  recognized.  This  board, 
directly  or  indirectly,  has  settled  legal  questions  of 
the  largest  importance  to  the  producing  and  financial 
interests  of  the  country.  It  has  demonstrated  the 
fact  that  those  customs  which,  for  the  convenience  of 
business,  merchants  have  established  among  them- 
selves, are  stronger  than  any  mere  legal  technicalities, 
and  that  to  those  customs,  when  among  merchants 
they  become  uniform,  universal,  and  well  established, 
the  law  must  bend,  and  if  it  does  not  bend  it  will 
break.  Lawyers  have  commented  with  great  pride 
upon  what  they  claim  to  be  the  fact  that  that  great 
jurist,  Lord  Mansfield,  was  the  substantial  author  and 
founder  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  law  merchant. 
I  would  not  detract  from  the  encomiums  so  justly  for 
generations  passed  upon  Lord  Mansfield  for  his  part 
in  giving  form  and  strength  to  that  splendid  body  of 
the  law.  But  it  is  always  to  be  remembered  that  the 
law  merchant  was  not  invented  nor  devised  by  Lord 
Mansfield,  nor  by  any  other  judge  or  judges,  but  grew 
out  of  the  necessities  of  trade  as  developed  by  actual 
experience,  was  a  code  which  merchants  had  estab- 
lished for  themselves,  and  that  the  part  which  Lord 
Mansfield  played  was  not  that  of  creating  this  code, 
but  was  the  perhaps  equally  wise  part  for  a  great 
judge  of  recognizing  the  existence  of  these  customs, 
and  giving  them,  by  his  adjudications  upon  the  bench, 
the  authoritative  force  of  law. 

[  16] 


To  the  changed  condition  of  things  growing  out  of 
different  methods  of  transporting  grain  the  courts  in 
this  state,  I  will  not  say  were  compelled  to  bend,  but 
freely  adapted  themselves.  Not  many  years  since, 
by  a  combination  between  the  railroads  and  elevators, 
a  great  danger  was  threatened  in  the  monopolizing  of 
the  warehouse  business;  and  when  a  resolute,  repre- 
sentative, and  thoroughly  plucky  member  of  the  board, 
controlling  an  elevator,  insisted  that  the  railroad  com- 
panies should  deliver  grain  to  his  elevator  as  freely, 
and  upon  the  same  terms  and  conditions,  as  they 
delivered  to  others,  he  was  met  by  a  flat  refusal  on  the 
part  of  the  railroad  company;  and  resorting  to  the 
courts,  the  old  rule  that  the  carrier  was  not  compelled 
to  deliver  property  beyond  the  terminus  of  its  line  was 
appealed  to  as  a  justification.  But  the  courts  wisely 
held  that  the  new  system  of  transporting  grain  in  bulk 
shifted  the  terminus  from  the  freight  depot  to  the 
elevator,  and  that  every  elevator  connected  with  the 
main  track  was  a  terminus  for  the  grain  consigned  to 
it,  broke  up  the  threatened  system  of  monopoly,  and 
made  the  business  absolutely  free.  This  case  was  a 
pioneer  one,  and  involved  countless  millions  in  its 
consequences.  In  its  determination,  and  in  the  way 
it  was  determined,  every  producer  of  grain  and  cereals 
in  the  Northwest  was  interested.  But  what  was  a 
pioneer  case  but  a  few  years  since  in  this  state  has  now 
become  the  settled  law  of  the  whole  country,  and  the 
old  conflicts  between  the  members  of  this  board  and 
the  railroad  companies  and  the  elevators  have  practi- 
cally ceased  to  exist,  for  the  elevators  and  the  rail- 
road companies  now  have  their  memberships  upon  your 

[17] 


board,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  all  interests  are  consulted. 
Beyond  your  mere  daily  transactions  here — far 
beyond  them — do  your  duties  extend;  and  far  beyond 
these  transactions  do  your  influences  reach.  From 
the  first  the  interest  which  this  board  and  its  mem- 
bers have  shown  in  all  matters  of  public  moment  and 
consequence,  and  the  intelligent  activities  which  it 
has  exhibited  in  the  promotion  of  public  interests 
upon  a  large  scale,  have  brought  to  the  Board  of  Trade 
of  the  city  of  Chicago  that  general  confidence  to  which 
we  may  look,  in  part,  at  least,  for  an  explanation  of 
its  marvelous  growth  and  prosperity.  During  its  long 
and  honorable  career,  the  efforts  and  influences  and 
the  achievements  of  the  board  of  trade  of  this  city 
have  not  been  limited  to  merely  commercial  enter- 
prises. It  has  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
been  the  nucleus  around  which  great  movements  have 
gathered  for  many  public  and  patriotic  purposes. 
Perceiving  the  necessity  of  an  undivided  nationality, 
it  spoke  at  the  very  outbreak  of  the  rebellion,  in  no 
uncertain  tones,  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union 
and  the  honor  of  the  flag.  It  raised  and  equipped  a 
battery  of  artillery,  the  fame  of  which  adorns  one  of 
the  brightest  pages  of  our  annals,  and  "which  history 
will  never  willingly  let  die."  It  contributed  to  the 
raising  of  three  regiments,  known  as  the  board  of  trade 
regiments.  It  was  foremost  in  aiding  the  raising  of 
men  to  fill  our  depleted  armies.  It  sustained  with 
unflinching  zeal  and  unwavering  faith  the  financial 
honor  and  integrity  of  the  country.  It  stood  by  the 
greenback  and  the  national  banknote  in  the  days  of 
their  adversity;  it  is  fitting  and  proper  that  it  should 

I  18] 


be  largely  endowed  with  them  in  the  days  of  their 
honor  and  triumph.  Money  to  the  cause  of  the 
Union  without  stint,  it  gave  when  money  was  required. 
Men,  as  I  have  said,  from  its  own  membership  it  fur- 
nished. Its  courage  and  hopefulness  never  for  a 
moment  faltered.  This  board  saw,  with  undimmed 
vision,  the  imperative  necessity  that  the  Mississippi 
should  flow  unvexed  from  St.  Paul  to  the  Gulf,  and 
that  it  should  carry,  without  tolls  and  restrictions,  on 
its  bosom  if  need  be,  the  commerce  of  the  world. 
When  the  war  closed,  with  that  keen  breadth  of 
sagacity  which  it  has  always  exhibited,  it  sought  the 
prompt  settlement  of  all  questions  which  grew  out  of 
it,  and  on  a  basis  so  firm  that  these  questions  could  not 
thereafter  be  revived.  It  insisted  upon  a  Union 
restored  not  only  in  name,  but  in  fact;  and  it  to-day 
greets  the  South  and  the  men  of  the  South  as  friends 
in  no  half-way  sense;  as  friends  in  a  broader  and  better 
sense  than  ever  before;  as  citizens  of  a  common  coun- 
try, sharers  in  a  glorious  destiny  for  the  future.  It 
welcomes  New  Orleans  and  Atlanta,  Savannah  and 
Charleston — every  southern  city — and  greets  every 
southern  man  as  a  fellow-citizen.  It  welcomes  and 
rejoices  over  its  and  their  prosperity,  and  asks  that 
in  the  future  peace  may  be  perpetual  between  every 
portion  of  the  country,  and  that  over  that  comonm 
country  there  shall  float  but  one  flag,  that  flag  filling 
all  the  sky — a  flag  without  stain  or  blemish  on  its 
ample  folds. 

Its  charities  have  been  as  broad  as  its  patriotism 
has  been  genuine.  Behind  the  great  sanitary  com- 
mission it  stood  with  its  helping  hand,  and  down  the 

[  19  ] 


Mississippi  to  the  Gulf  has  this  board  scattered  its 
charities  and  its^benefactions  in  an  unstinted  measure. 
These  charities,  like  its  commercial  operations,  know 
no  limitations  of  state  lines.  There  is  no  geography 
in  the  generosity  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of  the  city 
of  Chicago.  Wherever  there  is  suffering  or  want,  it 
recognizes  the  boundaries  of  no  mountains,  rivers, 
or  seas.  It  is  a  power  felt  not  only  in  state  but  in 
national  legislation.  It  will  demand  for  the  city  of 
Chicago,  and  through  the  city  of  Chicago  for  the  great 
West,  that  the  act  of  Congress  making  this  city  a  port 
of  entry  shall  be  no  dead  letter.  It  will  demand  and 
insist  upon  it  that  vexed  questions  of  transportation 
by  sea  or  land  be  settled  in  the  interests  of  the  great 
producing  industries  of  the  country.  It  will  demand 
that  our  animal  industries  be  protected  and  cared  for; 
that  our  vast  public  domain  be  preserved  from  the 
rapacious  grasp  of  monopolists;  that  our  currency  be 
kept  at  a  standard  so  high  that  it  pass  unchallenged 
everywhere  and  that  it  suffer  no  debasement;  that  the 
exportation  of  our  live  stock  and  our  hog  products  be 
protected  by  national  legislation;  and  that  indeed  all 
the  great  interests  shall,  so  far  as  in  it  lies,  be  made  the 
subject  of  its  constant,  earnest,  and  intelligent  care. 
United  with  other  boards  of  trade  throughout  the 
country  in  a  national  organization,  it  conceives  it  to 
be  its  duty  constantly  to  influence,  wisely  and  intel- 
ligently, congressional  action,  and  will  see  to  it  that 
that  duty  be  religiously  performed.  The  Chicago 
Board  of  Trade,  and  the  city  itself,  of  which  this  board 
is  so  fitting  a  type  and  representative,  stands  between 
the  producer  on  our  great  plains  and  the  thousands 

[20] 


and  millions  of  consumers  in  our  own  country 'and 
across  the  seas.  Its  great  operators  to-day  reach  by 
electric  currents  all  quarters  of  the  globe,  and  every 
morning  the  Chicago  markets  furnish  the  cue  for 
prices  of  cereals  and  provisions  throughout  the  world. 

It  is  but  natural  that  the  Board  of  Trade  of  the  city 
of  Chicago  should  be  thoroughly  representative  and 
cosmopolitan  in  its  character.  The  architects  of  that 
mighty  empire  which  within  half  a  century  has  been 
reared  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Far  West 
have  been  drawn  from  every  portion  of  our, country 
and  indeed  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  The 
thrifty  self-reliance  of  New  England,  the  commercial 
breadth  of  New  York,  the  sturdy  solidity  of  the  old 
Keystone  State,  the  vigorous  and  chivalric  self-respect 
of  the  South,  all  find  their  representatives  on  the  floor 
of  this  exchange. 

Attracted  by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  to 
these  limitless  and  fruitful  fields,  the  Englishman,  the 
German,  the  Irishman,  the  Swede,  have  made  their 
homes  with  us  and  merged  their  old  nationalities  with 
ours. 

And  hence  in  greeting  to-day  the  representatives 
from  the  great  cities  of  our  country  and  the  old  world, 
we  make  no  new  acquaintances,  but  renew  old  friend- 
ships and  here  reassert  the  ties  of  kindred  and  com- 
mon ancestry. 

As  unconscious  as  the  founders,  still  living,  of  this 
city  were  of  the  stupendous  proportions  of  the  work  in 
which  they  were  engaged,  are  the  members  of  this 
board  of  the  influences  under  which  they  are  acting 
every  day.  Its  commerce  is  so  extended  that  its  fibers 

[21  ] 


are  interlaced  with  the  fate  of  kingdoms.  If  you  take 
the  transactions  in  cereals  and  provisions  on  this 
board,  and  run  out  the  lines  to  their  last  extremity, 
you  will  find  they  reach  to  Threadneedle  Street,  Paris, 
Berlin,  Vienna,  Calcutta,  to  all  the  farms  in  Great 
Britain,  France  and  Germany;  you  will  find  far-off 
Russia  affected  by  and  responding  to  your  daily  deals; 
and  as  they  are  affected  so  are  you.  Unconsciously 
or  otherwise,  you  are  the  agents  and  representatives 
of  every  food-consuming  and  money  center  in  the 
world.  This  marks  the  extent  of  your  power  and 
influence.  You  are  the  clearing  house  in  these  great 
products  for  civilized  mankind;  and  the  time  is  not  so 
far  distant  as  you  may  think  when  here  shall  be  ex- 
changed the  products  of  the  old,  dreamy  Orient  for 
the  products  of  the  Occident.  Your  mission  is  to  be 
worthy  not  only  of  your  prosperity  to-day,  but  of  those 
colossal  and  resplendent  results  which  Providence  is 
surely  working  out  for  us  in  the  future.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  remind  you  how  exalted  is  the  character 
of  the  real  merchant.  The  greatest  master  of  English 
prose  has  said: 

"There  are  not  more  useful  members  in  a  common- 
" wealth  than  merchants.  They  unite  mankind  to- 
gether in  a  mutual  intercourse  of  good  offices,  dis- 
"  tribute  the  gifts  of  Nature,  find  work  for  the  poor, 
"wealth  to  the  rich,  and  magnificence  to  the  great." 

There  is  no  greater  civilizer  than  commerce.  The 
wisest  of  modern  thinkers  and  philosophers  has  said: 

"  Commerce  tends  to  wear  off  those  prejudices  which 
"maintain  distinction  and  animosity  between  nations. 
"It  softens  and  polishes  the  manners  of  men.  It 

[22] 


"  unites  them  by  one  of  the  strongest  of  all  ties,  the 
"desire  of  supplying  their  mutual  wants.  It  disposes 
"them  to  peace,  by  establishing  in  every  state  an 
"order  of  citizens,  bound  by  their  interests  to  be  the 
"guardians  of  public  tranquility.  As  soon  as  the 
"commercial  spirit  acquires  vigor,  and  begins  to  gain 
"an  ascendant  in  any  society,  we  discern  a  new  genius 
"in  its  policy,  its  alliances,  its  wars,  and  its  negotia- 
tions." 

The  most  superficial  observer  cannot  fail  to  see  that 
as  great  as  has  been  the  merely  material  prosperity 
which  has  attended  your  history,  your  glory  will  not 
always  be  merely  material,  nor  will  you  always  be 
satisfied  with  a  prosperity  reckoned  by  the  size  of  your 
warehouses,  and  the  volume  and  extent  of  your  trade. 
A  broad,  splendid  culture  will  come  by  and  by;  it  is 
coming.  Out  of  this  vast  commerce  have  grown 
countless  splendid  homes;  it  has  reared  churches,  it 
has  established  schools  and  colleges. 

There  is,  I  am  sure,  a  wonderful  chemistry  at  work 
on  the  shores  of  this  great  lake,  and  in  this  city,  which 
will  evolve  from  the  grain  elevator,  from  the  stock 
yards,  from  the  pork-packing  establishments,  splendid 
results  in  science,  in  arts,  in  literature.  We  have  just 
seen  what  has  never  before  been  witnessed  in  this 
country,  born  almost  in  a  day,  a  magnificent  festival 
devoted  to  music  in  its  highest  form  and  development, 
successful  beyond  the  wildest  dreams  of  its  projectors. 
The  Board  of  Trade  of  the  city  of  Chicago  knows  no 
rivalries  other  than  the  generous  rivalries  of  a  broad 
and  liberal  commerce.  Glad  to  welcome  here  to-day 
the  representatives  from  all  over  the  country,  from 

[23  ] 


across  the  seas,  and  from  the  neighboring  Dominion 
of  Canada,  it  extends  to  those  representatives,  and  to 
the  people  who  are  behind  them,  greetings  the  heartiest 
and  most  cordial.  For  them  and  others  it  bespeaks 
all  the  prosperity  for  which  they  could  ask,  knowing 
full  well  that  New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  St. 
Louis,  New  Orleans  and  Atlanta,  Memphis  and  Mo- 
bile, Buffalo  and  Toledo,  Montreal  and  Quebec,  Liver- 
pool and  London,  may  prosper  never  so  much,  their 
prosperity  in  no  sense  detracts  from  the  growth  and 
development  of  the  Northwest  and  of  the  city  of 
Chicago,  but,  as  we  flatter  ourselves,  adds  and  con- 
tributes to  it.  In  this  feeling, — deeper  than  I  can 
express  it,  broader  than  I  can  describe, — are  these 
exercises  this  day  conducted.  To  a  commerce  inspired 
by  such  purposes  is  this  magnificent  temple  dedicated; 
and  so  long  as  it  shall  endure,  so  long  as  its  walls  shall 
stand,  will  the  Board  of  Trade  of  the  city  of  Chicago 
maintain  for  itself  that  exalted  position  which  it  has 
finally  reached,  and  through  the  centuries  we  trust 
be  worthy  of  the  great  future  that  is  coming  to  us  as 
a  people,  and  of  the  honorable  achievements  which 
illumine  its  past. 


[  24] 


